How To Start The Business Of The 21st Century In Eight Easy Steps?

Starting an online business is presently not a curiosity. It’s an unavoidable truth for people. Fortunately, e-business is staying and flourishing indeed. That, however, the means expected to lead a business online are well inside the span of people like you and me who have no earlier business experience.

New programming and administrations, making Website pages and executing on the web business more straightforward than at any other time. All you need is a good idea, a little starting cash, a personal computer or smart mobile, and a little assistance from your good friends and you can start a Business of the 21st century.

Here, I am providing you with a bit-by-bit outline of the whole cycle of starting an internet-based business or e-business.

Step 1: Shortlist the potential business ideas

Someday someone is going to invent a better Wal-Mart, and there’s going to be a bigger and better store.  Similarly, it is true about Amazon. Initially, it was a very small business, but now it is mammoth. As technology changes, someone is going to create a business online that makes people say, ‘Holy cow, that’s cool.

E-commerce has existed since the beginning of finance and the web has been around a decade old now. But new products and ways to sell them are being identified all the time. I don’t think success is guaranteed. But it depends on you and your strategy, energy, dedication, and enthusiasm.

The Internet is a worldwide, interconnected network of computers to which people can connect either from work or home or anywhere and through which people can communicate via e-mail, receive information from the Web, and buy and sell products by using credit cards or paying apps or internet banking or by other means.

Many people decide to start an online business with little more than a casual knowledge of the Internet. But when you decide to get serious about going online with a commercial endeavour, it pays to get to know the environment in which you plan to be working.

One of your first steps should be to find out what it means to do business online and to determine the best ways that are pertinent to you.  

For example, you need to realize that the Internet is a personal place; and that customers are actively spending 4 to 6 hours a day on the Internet via personal computers, Laptops, Tablets, Mobiles, etc. The way they absorb and share information freely and help one another is amazing and not observed before the internet.

Geographical boundaries also diminish because the internet and online businesses are spreading throughout the world.

Some of the best places to find out about the culture of the Internet are newsgroups, chat groups/rooms, and bulletin boards, online meetings, where individuals gather and exchange messages online.

Nowadays it is happening using social media platforms like Twitter, Pinterest, Reddit,  Facebook, WhatsApp, Quora and many more. Visiting online business websites, such as eBay, Amazon, Alibaba, Flipkart, or any other online marketplace, take note of ideas and approaches that you may want to use for your online business.

If you want to be successful in online business, you must know about the following –

a) Customers:

Investigate the various kinds of customers who shop online and who might visit your site.

b) Culture:

Explore the style and special language people use when they communicate.

c) Competitors:

Know your competitors or online businesses that already do what you want to do. Don’t let their presence intimidate you. You’re going to find a different and better way to do what they already do.

The more information you have about the customers, their culture and your competitors more likely you are going to be successful in doing business online.

As you take a look around the Internet, notice the kinds of goods and services that tend to sell are increasing in the online world. The things that you may sell best online are –

Various discounts on MRP:

Most customers expect the items available on the internet to be cheaper than MRP or have some discount.

Something special product:

Customers generally want a product that is not routine and not available everywhere else i.e. that’s hard to find, personalized, or unique and sells well online.

Putting order online should be convenient:

Customers are looking for items that are easier to buy online than at a “real” store, such as good books that are not available in all shops that you can find on Amazon and order in minutes.

Informative: People like to go online to quickly read news, exciting stories, and articles, that are available for free or by subscription, such as newspapers, magazines, and bulletins, that exist online only for informative videos and blogs.

Visit well-known search engines online like Google, and Yahoo, and enter a word or phrase that describes the kinds of goods or services you want to provide online. Find out how many businesses already exist and do what you want to do.  Understand what others are not doing and how you can improve on the existing business, and set a goal.

After looking at what’s already available online, the next step is to find ways to make your business stand out from the crowd. Direct your intellect toward making your site unique in some way and providing things that others can’t offer. The things that set your online business apart from the rest can be as substantially different.

In online business, being first often means getting a good start and being more successful than latecomers, even if they have more resources than you do. Don’t be afraid to start with new good ideas.

Step 2: Determine What You Have to Offer

Business is all about identifying customers’ needs and figuring out exactly what goods or services you’re going to offer to meet those needs. Make a list of all these items you have to offer for sale or the services that you plan to provide to your customers.

Next, you need to decide not only what goods or services you can provide online, but also from where you’re going to acquire them. Are you going to manufacture or produce these sales items yourself? or you are going to purchase them from another supplier. Note down all your ideas on paper and keep them handy while developing your business plan.

Be specific as possible with what you plan to do for your online business. Don’t try to do everything, and get confused with various ideas.  Online businesses can do very well one, at a time. The more specific your business, the more personal level of service you can provide to your customers.
Since the customer will get the specific and personal level service or product, the customer will be happy, Customer will come again and again to your online business platform and this way your business will flourish.

Step 3: Come up with a business plan and set up an online business.

Setting goals with certain objectives and then designing strategies for achieving them is essential when starting a new business and that is called the business plan. A good business plan is required not only for the new startups but also to operate the routine business on a day-to-day basis.

Ask some questions to yourself like why you won’t start the business online. What do you want to offer to the customer? and How? Also, answer these questions yourself, only you can answer these questions for yourself, nobody else can do it for you.

Make sure that you have a clear idea of where you’re going so that you can commit to making your venture successful over a long time. While preparing a business plan also check the legal and tax liabilities of your future business online and be prepared for it.

Now you have a good potential business idea, you know what you are going to offer to your customer and you have a handy good business idea. The next action will be to set up your online business (e-business).

Online business (e-business) has many advantages over the business you have to do offline or in the real world. One of the greatest advantages of opening an online business is space, and other benefits are that you can start your business with a small amount of money, you save your investment by piling the real stock(s) by renting the shop or warehouse with setup of various furniture and fixtures.

For an online business, you can create a website and get started with your online business.

In brief, you can buy a domain name, sign up with a hosting service, create some web pages, and get started with your online business with an investment of only a few hundred to thousand dollars, or perhaps even less.

How to create a website in detail, will be given in the next article. Please visit the page and have a complete understanding of setting up the website online including buying the domain and hosting and other supportive services.

You do not have to rent a space in a small warehouse or other large space. Many online startups use a home office or perhaps a corner in a room where a computer or Laptop, books, and other business-related items can be placed together.

For doing online business, your most important piece of equipment is your laptop or computer. Other items such as a printer, scanner, and modem, are essential, too.

Make sure that all the computer accessories are up to date because you are going to spend much more time with them writing the article or blog and e-mail, checking and updating web pages, and marketing your product.

Step 4: Don’t hesitate to get help from an expert

Doing business online is based on advanced computer technologies. Now a day these technologies are available at the doorstep of every consumer. However, for novices, it is hard to figure out which technology is suitable for the smooth running of an online business. Hence particular domain expert will be helpful.

Many people who start online businesses learn how to create Web pages and promote their companies by reading books, attending classes, or networking with friends and colleagues. It is better to hire help, either to advise you in areas where you aren’t as strong or simply to help you tackle the growing workload and help your business grow at the same time.

Step 5: Set Up a System for Processing Sales

Most businesses when going online then, are surprised by their own success and are not able to manage the post-online business launch difficulties.

Since they don’t have systems in place for finalizing sales, shipping out purchased goods on time, and tracking finances and inventory, they face challenges in meeting customer satisfaction.

It is better to plan to track your business finances and to create a secure purchasing environment for your online customers. That way, you can build on your success.

Because you are doing online business it is better to make use of computers to keep your accounting books. Accounting software can help you keep track of expenses and provide information that may save you some headaches at the time of tax payment.

Step 6: Provide Timely Service

Providing customer service on the Internet is easy and user-friendly. You can check all your e-mails regularly and respond quickly to all inquiries usually within a day; you cheerfully solve problems and hand out refunds if needed. By helping your customers, you help yourself, too.

You build loyalty as well as credibility among your customers. For many small businesses, the key to competing effectively with larger competitors is by providing superior customer service.

E-mail is the single most important marketing tool that you can use to boost your online business.

Becoming an expert e-mail user increases your contacts and provides you with new sources of support, too. Initially, it is better to keep the one-to-one communication via e-mail only. The Internet is an expert in bringing individuals together. Mailing lists and newsletters can use e-mail effectively for marketing, too.

However, it is not advisable to send out mass unsolicited commercial e-mails to consumers. This practice may turn off almost all consumers and that can get you in trouble by Law.

Once the business is online, you can easily communicate what you know about your field and make your knowledge readily available to consumers. One way is to set up a Web page that presents the basics about your company and your field of interest in the form of Frequently Asked Questions.

Another technique is to become a virtual publisher/editor and create your own newsletter in which you can write about what’s new with your company and about topics related to your work.

Step 7: Analyze, Revise, and Improve

Any successful business needs to establish standards by which you can judge its success or failure. It would help if you decided for yourself what you consider success to be. After some time, take a look at where your business is, and then take steps to do even better.

Money is only one form of success. Plenty of entrepreneurs are online for reasons other than making money. That said, it is important from time to time to evaluate how well you’re doing financially.

The key is to establish the goals for your business you want to reach and develop measurements so that you know when and if you reach those goals.

For online businesses, it is important to update the website pages articles or blogs regularly. It is not advisable to unveil the perfect website all at one time. Seeing your site improve and grow is one of the best things about going online.

Over time, you can create contests, start cooperative relationships with other businesses, and you can add more background information about your products and services.

Last but not least you can offer various deals from your own business or from your partners to various consumers that will keep your website updated regularly.

Step 8: Start doing Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is a way for you to earn money by selling a brand’s products. Generally, affiliate marketers receive payment when a consumer buys a product or service or completes a specific task on your online business platform.

In other words, it’s a way that large businesses can outsource their marketing to you in a way that’s strictly performance-based. This offers businesses a 100% return on their investment, which makes it unique among online marketing methods.

It also means that you have the opportunity to make a good deal of money by selling a product that isn’t yours. The more you sell, the more you earn.